April 25 Peaceful Demonstration: A Spiritual Treasure of Our Era

(Minghui.org) On April 25, 1999, ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners held a peaceful demonstration in Beijing, to ask the government to reaffirm their right to practice and to release practitioners who had been violently arrested in nearby Tianjin. This event constitutes the only large scale nonviolent resistance to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) authoritarian rule since it took power in 1949.

The moral courage of the demonstration continues to stand out 16 years after its occurrence.

In China, we live in an era of moral degradation and chaotic values. The main reason for this phenomenon is because of the CCP’s violent control and continuous stream of lies and propaganda. Many Chinese have thus developed symptoms of the Stockholm Syndrome, where hostages express sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors. This irrational thinking also stems from fear of losing personal interests, even though the people of China are fully aware of the Party’s history of violence and lies.

To justify the persecution and instill widespread fear and hatred against Falun Gong, the CCP staged the self-immolation hoax on Tiananmen Square in 2001, repeatedly broadcasting the gruesome footage on Chinese state-run media.

However, throughout the sixteen years of lies, slander and defamation, Falun Gong practitioners have persevered in their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and have maintained nonviolent resistance to the Party’s inhumane persecution. It is truly a spiritual treasure of our era.

CCP officials involved in the persecution over the past 16 years have shown unimaginable cruelty, greed and immoral conduct. The most notable among them include Zhou Yongkang, the former head of the CCP’s Politics and Legal Affairs Committee, and Li Dongsheng, former head of the 610 Office and director of the CCP’s central television station.

Faced with the danger of being arrested, beaten and imprisoned at any time, practitioners tirelessly go out to tell people about Falun Gong and the persecution. They want to bring the grace of the practice to all people, including the police and government officials who persecute them.

Since the publication of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, practitioners have continuously raised awareness among Chinese of the importance of quitting the CCP and its affiliated youth organizations. So far, over 200 million Chinese people have withdrawn their membership from the Party.

Falun Gong practitioners have no interest in political power. The withdrawals from the Party are a peaceful way for China to become a better society – without the CCP.

China’s future depends upon people of conscience and of high moral values – just as we saw exhibited by Falun Gong practitioners in the April 25 demonstration.